“Lady Alma”: Perfecting House Music

“Lady Alma”

Perfecting House Music

Internationally known and quoted by legendary DJ/Producer DJ Jazzy Jeff as gifted with truly soulful emotions, moving vocals, and she makes me want to throw my hands in the air and party. From Montreal, Paris, London, Berlin, Japan, Johannesburg, or major cities across the US, Lady Alma is cherished by fans and DJs. Her music makes you move emotionally and physically. Since the 1990s, the soul grasping singer has contributed vocals, collaborating with Philly’s King Britt, 4Hero known as the Kings Of Brokenbeat, and Yukihiro Fukutomi. Known to her fans worldwide and labeled “the heart & soul of the Philadelphia soul scene,” the reigning and most regal, Lady Alma Horton.

Alma Horton was born in San Diego, Ca. and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Known as The First Lady of House Music, singing came naturally from birth for Alma, who’s Mother, Ms. Carla Horton, was a Preacher, singer, and grandmother. By the time Lady Alma was three years of age, she was singing in an all-adult Church Choir called, The Freedom Choir. Lady Alma’s Mother took her love of singing and music seriously. By the time she was 10, Alma had already toured the country coast to coast. She insisted she learned music and gained the knowledge of training and music theory. Lady Alma attended The Girard Academic Music Program. A college preparatory school for students, she attended grades 7th through 12th. They provide a unique educational environment while allowing all its students to pursue music as a Major subject. She attended Settlement Music School after school as well.

A member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education with the highest level of accreditation. Ms. Alma speaks of Freedom Theater, founded by Mr. John Allen, with the support of the Black People’s Unity Movement. Mr. Allen himself, a performer, teacher, director, and writer. He had worked in television directing productions for the New York Theater Festival, the Walnut Street Theater, and the Philadelphia Company. Formal music training in theory and voice was essential to the artistry of this timeless performer. Lady Alma says of her years of conservatory, “The best part of that type of creative environment was learning and grasping musical theory, the formal and informal training. Reading notes, writing songs, in an atmosphere of being taught to be individuals, your own unique self in music.” Her talent and professional background in music created a backdrop for decades of success and a timeless sound.

“House music,” typically seen as a regional sound due to renowned collaborating collectives in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and surrounding regions. The term spawned from the disco era tracing back to the underground clubs of Chicago and New York in the

late 70s. In attempts to keep the club crowds on the dance floor, DJs experimented with new ways of mixing their sets to keep people dancing. It brought new life to dance music in the dying disco era. The unique sound coined “House Music” , its origins speculative. The genre of dance music has long become a global phenomenon. The sound has influenced pop music, hip hop, and other modern music styles with its many genres and subgenres. Progressive artists like Kindred the Family Soul, Musiq, India Arie, Joan Osborne, Moby, and Les Nubians, were all influenced by the genre, if not the influencer. The cultural impact of House Music continues to inspire new generations of fans, music, technology, and innovation.

Few have impacted the scene like Lady Alma, credited as “the heart & soul of Philadelphia’s soul scene,” this artist has an international following by no means regional. Lady Alma’s stardom ignited while performing at the Black Lily showcases at The Five Spot in the early 2000s as a solo artist. The weekly concert series, hosted by critically acclaimed duo Jazzyfatnastees in 1999, founders Mercedes Martinez and Tracey Moore created the series showcasing female vocalists and musicians. Jazzyfatnastees uplifted such diverse talented female artists, like Jill Scott, India Arie, Floetry, and Jaguar Wright. The first series was weekly at the Wetlands in New York (1999) and later a weekly series at the Five Spot in Philadelphia (2000-2005). As rare as the Black Lily Flower itself. The Black Lily brand showcases at The Five Spot represented, developed, and promoted cutting-edge artists of varied backgrounds. Voices that often were unheard in the male-dominated genre at the time, women, often left out of the various jam sessions and collaborations in the genre, had their own brand of House Music to put out to the masses. Black Lily events have taken place in London, Paris, Japan, San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, and Los Angeles.

Lady Alma’s star was twinkling long before though, in 1998 King Britt’s acclaimed LP “When The Funk Hits the Fan,” as part of his groundbreaking Sylk 130 Collective, Lady Alma & Tanja Dixon’s remake, Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. The updated remake landed the two on Soul Train and is still essential at old school parties, family cookouts throughout the country, and abroad. The song

is a club/party anthem revised again and again. Later versions are insulting to those who groove to King Britt’s. Sorry, Mariah and Madonna. Not even your commercial appeal can recreate the vibe these ladies showcased with their perfection of funk-enriched vocals. King Britt began his first DJ residency at the Silk City in Philadelphia in 1990 in 1992 he toured worldwide for the Grammy Award-winning group Digable Planets for two years, a threemonth opening slot with Sade. Starting the label Ovum Recordings in 1994 with Josh Wink.

He left in 2001 after the release of “Sylk 130 Re-Member’s Only” featuring Alison Moyet, Martin Fry from ABC, Kathy Sledge, Grover Washington Jr, De La Soul, and others. King Britt left to pursue more production work with Columbia Records. King Britt refers to Lady Alma as a “Healing Angel,” as you’ll learn was also the case for a loyal fan in South Africa, during his troubled times.

Ms. Horton’s vocal performances of powerful leads and soothing multitracked harmonies are on numerous releases such as Zapp Mama (Show Me The Way), DJ Spinna (Chances), DKD (Getaway), Baby Blak (Daddy Dearest), and DJ Mitsu The Beats (Away), Osunlade, Rob Paine, and more followed as the heavily sought out vocalist was the choice for heavy hitters of house, soul, and broken beat around the world. In October 2001 the U.K. electronic music pioneers “4Hero’s” released their fourth album Creating Patterns led by the single (Hold It Down & Something’ But Nothing) featuring Lady Alma. The significant debut “Hold It Down” brought new fans with its fusion of modern beats and orchestra-soul. The song was a global dance floor anthem that year.

The phenomenal “Lady Alma” is a Philadelphia treasure and one of the most widely-praised songbirds from the region, with works from internationally renowned DJs and producers.

Bestowed Philadelphia City Paper’s 2002 Best Female Vocalist Award and Temple University’s 2004 Sisters Defining Sisters Award for Artistic Excellence among her accolades. Lady Alma’s contributions and collaborations of mind-blowing vocal arrangements, excelling beyond genre and musical styles,

leave her constituents breathless. London-based innovator Mark DeClive-Lowe called Lady Alma “one of the most deadly and effective singer/songwriters I’ve ever come across.”

As stated in a “WXPN 88.5” June 2019 article. Despite Lady Alma’s success and international acclaim, the humble songstress left the scene to care for her Mother when her health declined. For nearly ten years, Ms. Horton scaled back on performances and recording, occasionally collaborating with the collective anxiously awaiting her power-packed return. Songs like ZO!’s “Free Your Mind” and “It’s House Music” are literally an anthem. Giving her fans something to appease the void of her soul-wrenching voice and epic melodic vibes.

Lady Alma’s beloved Mother, Ms. Carla Horton, joined the heavenly choir on April 20th, 2017. She had taken the hiatus in stride, allowing herself the time to care for her Mother, who was extremely ill. Being a full-time caregiver to her was an emotional ride and tasking. Caregiving isn’t made easier because of your love when it’s a parent. Often it’s isolating for both when the parent suffers between gratitude and guilt, shared moments of optimism and reality, eventual reversals of roles while remaining the hopeful inner-child.

The constant thoughts of if you are doing or done enough. The emotions are a wide array of wishes, fears, and ifs. When Lady Alma wrote “Let It Fall” in 2008, the song was a personal journey of catharticism. She needed the inner healing only musical expression could provide. To express the feelings and chaotic thoughts, the rollercoaster that exists inside.

Years later in July of 2018, in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, a man named Nhlaka Nhliriz was clubbing one night. When Koketso Mothapo, known as DJ The General De Kok, played the song “Let It Fall,” because of the passion and emotional release of Nhlaka, he recorded him on video. With the same emotion and nuances in his lip-syncing as Lady Alma, the song was in his core. Mothapo originally thought he was just enjoying the music until he realized he was singing exactly the way the music is played. Nhlaka Nhliriz first heard the song when he was 16 years old. He was going through some tumultuous times living hard to survive, and the song gave him a sense of release and hope. The mournful yet encouraging soulful anthem-like sound embraces your spirit as if drawing your inner strengths to the surface, vibing you through life’s struggles. Hope flowed through Nhlaka from its rhythmic groove, and that night in the club Nhlaka Nhliriz overflowed from the joy of overcoming and the empowerment it had enabled him. DJ The General De Kok so amazed by the depth of his spontaneous and raw emotions, focused his phone camera on Nhlaka as he sang it word for word as though Lady Alma’s spirit had gone within him. Mothapo posted the video, and it went viral. Nearly six months after her Mother’s death, Lady Alma regained her focus with more determination to return fully to the music. She had been discussing how to return to the scene organically after a ten-year hiatus. How could they regenerate the fueled audiences that for so many years had followed her? How do you resurface and resurrect naturally and reclaim your title/reign and it does not seem staged? With the support and the talent that she so, fortunately, was surrounded by, it had to be done. As if Ms. Carla Horton herself was orchestrating the events, the video almost immediately went viral, the numbers were going up, and the posts were everywhere on social media. Lady Alma merely needed to show up. With her usual humility and gratitude for her loving fans DJ The General De Kok and Lady Alma arranged for her to speak with Nhlaka Nhliriz, and they continue to stay in touch via social media. The worldwide viral video literally opened the floodgates for the fans to come through. Lady Alma’s anthology album, “Twilight” was released on June 28, 2019.

Ms. Horton’s fans were ready and waiting with their dancing shoes on, and she returned to the stage before the release of “Twilight.” The Los Angeles-based composer and producer Mark de Clive-Lowe, with whom she has a long history of collaborating, joined Lady Alma in creating some funk-loaded soulful tracks that manipulate your head and feet into unconscientious movement.

The title track “Twilight” is an invitation to the elevation of one’s higher realm for soulful release as the lyrics tell you to lay your head on her shoulder. The open invite allows Lady Alma to do what she does best, its groove ignites an escape as you lose yourself to a higher plane and atmospheric positivity.

“Hold Your Head Up” has the same principle, she uses her spirited vocals to fill your senses with belief in a higher power to guide you through. The music’s beat infused with basslines dancing around the beats flow as a subtle undercurrent of fluent keyboard shifts you into the uplifting message.

There’s “Keep It Moving,” rich in scampering baselines with body-stirring broken beats and slick retro electric piano chords. Check the mirror for a permanent look of funk-face as it spreads to your deepest core. Lady Alma returns with a new set of songs fortified with words of God sustaining us, spreading her source of strength, while the hypnotic transcending flow instills gratitude for the ability to move during the message.

“Running For Nothing” has a jazzy drum beat with a baseline telling as much of a story as the lyrics, exuding a sense of unconditional love from Lady Alma, no different than a Mother knowing it’s time to sit you down and tell you your truth.

Lady Alma returned with “Twilight” as if foreseeing the impending isolation we’d have to endure while the 2020 pandemic disabled our ability to congregate and release ourselves in the throws of “House Music’s” groove. Lady Alma and Mark de Clive-Lowe (Yameen Friedberg on “Light Of Love”) have created a timeless uplifting masterpiece of the human experience.

In 2020 Lady Alma was featured on “Landlord” by Swift Technique Band, released on their indie label. Compilations were released of remixes of her track “Make You Move” featuring renowned DJs Shannon, Terry Hunter, Mark Francis, and Lil Dave on T Box’s Records. Refusing to let the impact of the pandemic stop her, with all necessary precautions. She released several new tracks. A remix of Sol Brown Tracksource #1 hit-single “Your Time to Shine” (Wipe The Needle Remix) produced by Lee Gomez, “Breathe” produced by Johannesburg’s own DJ Miza featuring Chris Stevens, and “All The Way Far Away” produced by Rob Paine and David Marston.

With this digital age of social media and its ability to inform and unite us. Lady Alma stepped into the virtual reality possibilities during the 2020 pandemic, pioneering the virtual concert series “Gimme That Music” with guest band Vertical Current at World Cafe Live. Lady Alma is back in full effect and more powerful than ever, still excited about embracing the crowds, using her voice and musicianship as extended arms of love and hope just as Nhlaka Nhliriz was engulfed by. 2021 will be no different as Lady Alma continues her virtual abode. “Gimme That Music” at World Cafe Live had a Spring release for her newest EP project via T’s Box Records featuring Rich Medina & production by DJ Terry Hunter, DJ Emmaculate & PKR. The show can still be seen on Twitch. Lady Alma credits her longevity and blessings to God and the amazing friends and colleagues who in her case, are the very ones she loves making the music with, she gives special thanks to her motivating manager and friend “Walking Bear,” Mr. Tony Allen, his belief in the music and the people who make it has been a beacon of light for Ms. Alma.

Mr. Allen told me “Lady Alma’s music causes unconscious movement in every region of your body, heart, and soul, it’s like musical healing”. So if you’re getting a serious case of funkface and the uncontrollable need to have Lady Alma musically “Lay Hands” on your person, consider attending her May 29th, appearance in my home town of Charlotte, N.C. for Memorial Day Weekend at Morehead Tavern (a historic venue on the edge of Uptown).

However, if that’s not feasible Lady Alma can be found on every social media outlet. All you’ll need to do is subscribe, plug in your quality Bluetooth speaker and dance the night away. And I promise you, this will be a oncein-a-lifetime experience!!!